A Mech in the Brig Told Me
by draconisVulpini
Summary: Sam and Lennox are told they've got some weird readings coming off of them...
1. 01

Sam was in the rec room watching Sideswipe and Epps compete on an old copy of Call of Duty when alarms started screaming throughout the base. Both soldiers dropped their controllers (well, Sideswipe unplugged from his), and bolted from the room, but not before ordering Bumblebee to keep Sam safe.

Nervously, Sam asked, "Bee? That alarm means there's a Decepticon sighting, right?"

"_Affirmative, solder!"_

Sam swallowed nervously.

Surprisingly, the encounter didn't last very long, as the Decepticon immediately surrendered upon seeing the Autobot entourage and went to the brig without any fight or complaint. Ironhide was baffled, though he recovered quickly when Ratchet asked if he needed to make a stop in the medbay.

However, when Optimus went down to the brig to speak to the mech, he came back to the rec room baffled as well.

Sam had calmed significantly since the alarm had stopped. "What's up, big buy?"

Optimus looked down at him and said, "He says he will only speak to you, Sam."

And _that's_ when hell _really_ broke loose.

-x-

"Hey!" Sam thumped on Bumblebee's wheel. "Listen, 'Bee. I'll be _fine_. I can _totally_ handle myself. Ironhide's just a door away, and there'll be an electric _and_ energon wall between me and the 'Con. Besides, it's really your own fault you're not allowed in with me."

Bumblebee played a clip of a woman screaming alongside a violin playing short, high, scratchy notes.

Sam _was_ worried about meeting with an unknown Decepticon, but he didn't need his guardian to worry about him. He was sure he was going to be fine, but then again… they were probably called _Decepticons _for a reason.

But he bit down his own worry and said, "Well, you shouldn't've tried to go and attack him. Prime and Ratchet _flipped out_ when I told them you were going to go 'talk' to him."

Crkzz. _"And I would have gotten away with it, too, if it weren't for you meddling kids!"_

"Really?" Sam laughed nervously, trying to hide his unease, "Scooby-doo is the best you can come up with? Maybe you _should_ let Ratchet fix your vocals!"

Bee rattled his Camaro form dramatically,_ "Noooo! It's gonna kill me!"_

"I don't even know what that's _from!_ Alright. Let me out here." Sam said, opening the door while Bumblebee was still rolling.

Crkzz. _"I don't like this- It's quiet. Too quiet."_

"I know, 'Bee, it's weird and I don't like it either. But he'll only talk to me. I don't know what to tell you, buddy." Sam said, patting Bumblebee's roof comfortingly. "I've survived worse. Hell, I died once! And Lennox is gonna be in there with me. With mini sabot rounds."

Bee made pathetic clicking and whirring noises. _"Game over, man! Game over!"_

Epps looked up at Bumblebee. "Man, he's pathetic with the guilt-trippin'. How often does he do that?"

"Often enough that it doesn't affect me at all, _Robby_." Sam grinned widely, hoping his false bravado would hide his inner panicking.

Epps flicked him off.

"Hey, man, when 'Sides tags you with a nickname, there isn't any getting rid of the stupid thing. Old Man, Bossbot, Walking Grenade…" he could go on for a while. "I can go on for hours."

"I got it, I got it. Just don't let Ironhide hear you call him an old man. He would have freakin'_ kittens_!"

"Who said I was talking about Ironhide?" Sam had to duck a swing coming in at the back of his head. He quickly danced away from the semi-murderous NEST officer, and ran smack into William Lennox.

Lennox folded his arms over his chest. "Must you antagonize him? You know damn well he's going to go take it out on Ironhide by teaming up with the silver menace."

"Can't help myself." The younger man shrugged unrepentantly.

Will rolled his eyes. Anyone with working eyes (and probably everyone that didn't) could tell Sam was about to have a panic attack, but if teasing armed and dangerous men made him feel better, then who was he to argue?

"C'mon kid. Prime wants to get this over with. Bossbot ain't happy about this, you know." He told Sam while they walked to the brig.

Unfortunately, Sam couldn't swallow his panic this time and he started to babble, "Well neither do I! I mean, what would a seeker want with me? I'm not getting weird visions from the Allspark anymore- Ratchet already removed that thing- and Optimus has the Matrix now, so why me? Is it to lower the morale or-?"

He prepared to continue, but Lennox grabbed his shoulder firmly and looked him in the eye like he had back in Mission City. Sam's jaw closed with a snap and he recovered from his outburst.

"You can ask him all that yourself, younglin'." Ironhide answered as they walked past him, through the human-sized doors. "An' just so you know, his designation's Skywarp."

"Yeah, I- Thanks, Ironhide." Sam saluted jokingly, though still pale and nervous-looking.

Lennox watched him carefully, hoping to god that the kid wouldn't break down or faint while talking to the Decepticon.

-x-

Sam peered into the cell, through the steel fence crackling with deadly amounts of electricity, and the shimmering translucent energon wall. Skywarp was huddled in the back, in his alt mode.

"Hey mech, you online?" Sam asked, wincing at his accidental use of Cybertronian slang. He still cursed the fact that it had slipped into his vocabulary at all.

"I will speak to no one but Ladiesman217."The mech growled.

Sam snarled and his nervousness all but vanished.

-x-

'Oh yeah.' Will thought smugly. 'He's fine.'

-x-

"Seriously!? Are you fragging Decepticons still stuck on that? I deleted my slagging Ebay months ago!" Sam was very, very annoyed. Every encounter with the Decepticons, one of them yelled, 'get Ladiesman217!' He was sick of it, and it was driving him up a goddamn wall.

The seeker slowly transformed and crouched down to get a better look at the human glowering up at him. He was built differently than the pictures Optimus had shown him of Starscream. Less "dorito-body" and more "Bee with plane wings instead of door wings". And he was less spiky than most Decepticons- if Sam didn't know better he'd have thought the mech was an Autobot. But he did know better.

The mech's wings twitched. "You sounded like an Autobot…"

Sam crossed his arms. "I've been around them for years. We've rubbed off on each other. I doubt that's what you wanted to talk about though, so talk."

It was like a switch had been thrown, and the mech was on his knees, trying to look Sam in the eye and nearly begging, "You have to help him! Me and my trinemate's third died- he was killed by Megatron! But my other trinemate… he's _really hurt_! He _crashed_ when the bond with our third broke! He never crashes, so the rebound from the sparkbond snapping _had_ to've thrown him into shock, and he could die!"

The mech sounded desperate, and Sam felt a pang of pity for him. "Well, I'm listening. Go on."

"I've had a broken trine bond before, but he hasn't! I mean, it hurts for me too, but not like it's hurting him. He's _dying_. Please save him, human. Please! If he dies, I'll probably offline too! Nobody can handle two trine deaths in less than an orn!" the mech begged.

"…Where is he?" Sam asked. Damn his bleeding heart.

"He's at-!" he rattled off a set of coordinates, and Sam's head spun a little.

Sam turned around to Lennox. "Can you relay that to Ratchet?"

Lennox pressed a button on the plastic collar around his throat, and spoke over the Autobot comm frequency for a moment.

"Done," he said when he was finished. "He's en-route."

Sam shuffled his feet a minute.

"So, uh, who exactly _is_ your trine mate, the living one?"

Skywarp cringed and said, "Starscream."

Lennox's eyes hardened a little, but he explained gently, "Alright. Aid is on the way. Ratchet's going to do a patch there, and then bring him back to the medbay for proper treatment." Then his expression soured, "But if he tries to attack us, we _will_ retaliate."

"He won't, I promise!"

Sam thought that if crying (for any reason) was a thing Cybertronians could really do, Skywarp would be misting up at least a little in relief. As it was, Sam got the impression that the way Skywarp's wings swept back and up was him showing his relief.

Sam and Will turned to leave.

"Um…"

They both turned back to look at the mech.

The mech's wings twitched; Sam could only think it was a nervous motion. "Thanks. I know 'Screamer's not liked a whole bunch among the Autobots…"

Sam shrugged. "Just doing our job."

The mech obviously had something else to say, and after a moment, he said, "Alright, I dunno if this is weird to say to a human, but has anyone said anything about the weird readings you're giving off?"

His comment worried Lennox. "What do you mean 'weird readings'? And who exactly is it 'coming off of'?"

The mech leaned back and threw his wings back defensively. "If I knew what it was I'd have said what it was! And whatever it is, it's on both of you, but more on, uh…" He pointed at Sam.

Nervously, Sam said, "My name's Sam."

"Yeah, and it just spiked a second ago, when you walked in."

Scowling, Lennox assured Sam, "We'll have it checked out by Ratchet."

"As soon as Starscream's stabilized." Sam replied, feeling oddly defensive. "Whatever these 'weird readings' are, I'm sure they can wait until a potential ally isn't about to die."

-x-

"Starscream's fine, then?" Sam asked, perched on a free berth edge.

He got an affirmative grunt in reply.

Shifting in the chair that had been placed on Ratchet's desk (for Mikayla, since she was in the medbay so often), he said, "The mech in the brig- Skywarp- he said he was getting some… 'Weird readings' off of me and Major Lennox. I figured you could check me out now, since I'm already here. I think it freaked Lennox out more than it did me, but… better safe than sorry, right?"

"Gimmie a nanosecond," Ratchet grumbled. "Starscream was close to slagged when I got to him, and I'm exhausted."

Sam nodded, and for a little while the medbay was quieter than it had been in a long time, with only the beeping of a Spark monitor and the humming of a data screen connected to the Seeker.

Ratchet got up, making the berth he had been sitting on groan under his weight. He mumbled something angrily about "shoddy materials" and "cheap-aft government officials" while he ran a quick scan on Sam. Then he frowned, and scanned him again. Sam took this as a bad sign.

"Sam, I see nothing out of the ordinary with you, except something unusual but small in your chest," Ratchet said. "Still, I will run a deeper scan, just in case. Are you feeling out of the ordinary? Shortness of breath, insomnia, coughing?"

Shaking his head, Sam asked, "Do you think he was just imagining it?"

"He very well could have imagined it. His readings could also be correct. I see no reason for him to worry you unnecessarily while his trinemate's life is seemingly in your hands. In either case, Prime is on his way with our only data pad capable of the deep scans I want to run."

Sam fidgeted while they waited.

-x-

Sam watched in confusion as a silent conversation passed over his head.

Optimus had walked in just a few minutes ago, with the data pad in his hand, and had just… stopped and stared at Sam for a long moment, then looked at Ratchet silently. Sam was used to the silent conversations now, but they never failed to annoy him. Mostly because it felt like a dog whistle was screaming in his ears and because the bots were usually talking about him.

Eventually, though, Optimus cleared his throat-a purely human gesture he had picked up for the human's benefit- and said, "I am not sure how this has slipped past our awareness, but it seems that, sometime during the time we have known you, you have grown a spark."

Sam felt like his heart stopped beating. "A _what?_"

Ratchet sighed. "Sparks are essentially our souls, except that we can touch them. You've heard of sparkbonding, of course?"

"Yeah, it's like- it's like a marriage between you guys, isn't it?"

"Yes," Ratchet paused to look at Sam. "Except the two mechs are then linked for the rest of their lives; until one dies or the bond is forcibly broken, which usually kills both mechs anyway."

Sam's jaw dropped. "And I have one of these things now!?"

Ratchet nodded, and his fans whirred irritably. "It would appear so. It is tiny, at the moment, but it's reading clearly as a seeker spark. I would like you to stay a few days so I can monitor its growth. Spark growth time varies, and yours could mature anywhere between a few days from now to years from now."

"And- and bonds? How do I… avoid those?" Sam shifted nervously.

Sighing, Ratchet explained, "To put it simply, you don't. Seekers _must_ have a trine bond to survive. From what I understand, they can be initiated by anything from frame-to-frame touch, to simple optic-contact. Pits, I've heard of seekers trining with grounders when they're desperate. You'll have to hope that you don't accidentally trine with either of the Decepticon seekers, Sam."

Sam floundered miserably for a moment before slumping down in his chair. "I- yeah, sure, just… can I call Mikayla?"

-x-

Every morning for the week after that, Sam was woken up by Ratchet insisting on running a deep scan on him, and asking if he felt any different.

The first two days, he felt no different than usual. He'd been coughing some recently, though, which made Ratchet paranoid, and he had some trouble sleeping, which made Ratchet even more paranoid. At day four, his back started aching, and he just felt tired all the time.

Ratchet sounded worried when he said, "it seems that your symptoms are similar to a condition called Myxoma. Your body has identified your spark as a tumor, and treating it as such. It seems that meeting with the Decepticon has caused your spark's growth to increase dramatically."

"Do you have an idea of why? I'm not- I'm not linked to him somehow, am I?"

Ratchet's optics paled. It was a similar expression to a human widening their eyes. "You very well could be. I'll record your spark signature and set it against Skywarp's, and see if there's some sort of bond. Though, for both of your sakes, I hope there isn't."

Sam could imagine the reasons, but still he asked, "Why?"

"One, you'd begin to feel the effects of their freshly broken bond. And two, you'd be compelled to follow the squad leader no matter what. In this case: Starscream."

Stories Ironhide had told of the atrocities that the seeker had supposedly done flashed through his mind, and Sam shuddered in horror. If he had to follow that crazy bastard, he'd probably kill himself.

"And aside from the adverse effects on you, Skywarp and Starscream would have to put up with your stupidity in battle."

Sam bristled. "Hey, I'm not stupid! I can follow orders just as good as Lennox can!"

Ratchet paused to stare at Sam condescendingly. "When you're flesh and blood, trying to attack and kill metal beings from outer space is extremely stupid, no matter how well you can follow orders."

"… Well when you put it that way…"

-x-

On day five of his observation, Lennox returned to base, and was immediately snatched up by Ratchet.

Literally.

Sam was positive that he'd never heard the major so angry. _"Put me down, you big metal can opener bastard! Wait 'till I get a hold of some fucking sabot rounds you stupid toaster! I'll fill you so full of 'em you'll be mistaken for goddamn scrap metal! Scrap metal, you hear me!?"_

It was terribly difficult to not laugh when the man who _(grabbed him and shouted- "Listen to me! You're a soldier now!")_ seemed so implacable and calm was now being held by the scruff of his shirt like a misbehaving kitten, but somehow, Sam managed. If only just barely.

Lennox swung his fists blindly and to no avail at Ratchet's fingers. "_I said put me down!"_

"Calm down, human. I need to run a few deep scans, and you need to stay here for observation." Ratchet dropped him onto the medical berth Sam had made his temporary home.

Lennox glared at Sam and stiffened his shoulders, daring him to say a word.

Sam held his hands up defensively, threw his shoulder blades back, ducked his head and looked away.

Ratchet's fans whirred above them worriedly. "Slag, this must be further along than I originally thought if you're already displaying instinctual seeker body language."

Both humans looked up at Ratchet in surprise and horror.

"What?" Sam laughed nervously, "No. That's normal human body language."

Ratchet snorted. "Then human body language is abnormally similar to seekers. Your shoulder blades were moving to mimic seekers wings."

Lennox furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "What?"

Ratchet pinched the bridge of his nose. "I apologize. I forgot that I had instructed Ironhide to not mention any of this to you. I didn't want to worry you prematurely. In short, Sam has grown a spark, and I believe it was due to touching the Allspark in Mission City. Due to the fact that you also touched the Allspark, I have reason to believe you might have one as well."

"But that was years ago! How is he only growing one now?"

"It is possible that he has had one all this time. Sparks are very… odd. We have never been able to study them properly. Much like your human scientists and medical doctors have been unable to study your brain properly. Sparks can lay dormant for vorns before activating in their bodies. Sometimes they activate immediately. It depends."

Lennox took a deep breath. "So what you're telling me is that since I shoved the Allspark into Sam's hands way back in Mission City, I might have a spark too? How does that even work?"

Ratchet motioned for them to sit down, and he sat in his own chair. "Sparks were ignited by a creator or creators laying a sparkling body on the Allspark. Only sparkling bodies and a select few mechs were allowed to touch the Cube, because fully matured mechs that touched it tended to acquire… glitches."

Lennox leaned forward worriedly. "Glitches? Like, weird programming?"

"You could say that. Prowl- who is supposed to be landing soon- was thrown onto the Allspark during the battle over it, and when he did, his processer was given an upgrade, but that upgrade came with flaws. His processers cannot handle illogical things well, and he tends to crash when encountered with them."

Scowling, Lennox asked, "Is that where Skywarp got his annoying habit of popping in and out of battles?"

"Yes. Skywarp was also at that battle. He can teleport, as you know, but it only works in wide-open spaces. Red Alert- another mech you'll meet soon- was also at that battle, and that's where his paranoia glitch comes from."

"What about Hound? He has that ultra-hologram projector, right?"

Ratchet shook his head. "No, that was one of Wheeljack's finest inventions. One of the few that never once exploded."

Sam stared in horror.

Lennox waved his hand. "This has gone off subject. Go back to the whole, 'Sam and I have sparks' thing."

"I'm waiting for Prime to arrive with the data pad. He's in the middle of a meeting with the president. Requesting yet another liaison. First Galloway, then Wilson, and just recently Jacobs. They're all terrible. He's trying to get a NEST member as the liaison this time."

Lennox scoffed. "Good luck. We have a hell of a time recruiting people in the first place."

Laughing, Ratchet said, "I think we'll get what we want this time. Ironhide frightened Jacobs enough that his fight or flight reflexes activated and he expelled his wastes."

Sam blinked for a few moments, a grin spreading across his face. "So you mean he _literally_ pissed himself?"

"Among other things."

Both Sam and Lennox forgot their worries for a minute and burst into laughter.

-x-

A few hours and many, many games of blackjack later, Optimus finally entered the medbay.

"Prime."

"Ratchet."

"Data pad, now."

Optimus handed him the data pad, and Ratchet immediately got to scanning. Lennox abandoned the card game and waited impatiently for Ratchet's diagnosis. Sam packed up the cards and the odd thought of 'well duh, of course Lennox is gonna have a spark' crossed his mind. Immediately after, he felt guilty and confused by the thought. Why would Lennox 'of course' have a spark?

Ratchet sighed deeply. "It seems that you also have a spark. I ask that you stay in the medbay so that I may observe you for a week. I'm not sure how quickly your spark will mature."

"Are you certain?" Lennox asked, desperate for a negative answer.

"I am. I can tell you what kind of spark you have in just a moment, if that helps."

Lennox slumped in his chair. "God, what am I going to tell Sarah?"

Sam awkwardly patted his back. "I'm sure she'll be okay. I mean, she likes Ironhide, right? And I bet Wheeljack can mimic Hound's holo-projector so you can still do- uh… couple-y things, right?"

Will's back shook a little, and Sam thought he was crying until he leaned back and laughed. "You're right Sam. Anyone crazy enough to leave our baby with Ironhide as a babysitter is crazy enough to still like me when I'm a giant robot. I hope."

Sam shrugged. "The only way to know is to call her, right?"

Lennox looked up to the two mechs. "Yeah. Hey, Bossbot, can I get a phone?"

-x-

While Lennox was calling his wife, Ratchet opened a private line with Optimus.

_Did you notice?_

**I did.**

_I was hoping their sparks would mature slowly, but it seems we will not be so lucky. They're both displaying seeker-like instinct behavior. If their growth continues as-is, their sparks will be mature in twelve weeks to three months._

**I agree. Do you think it would be safe for them to have a twin bond?**

_Seekers do _not_ bond in numbers lower than three. Any trine reduced to two usually either immediately adopted a lone seeker or created a sparkling to complete their trine. That, or they offlined themselves in grief. However, I have heard of seeker quartets, though those are… exceedingly rare._

**I heard Sam asking if he had a bond with Skywarp…?**

_No, he doesn't have one. Yet. But their sparks are on very similar wavelengths. It's very possible they could develop one in the future. If they do so before Starscream awakens, there's a chance we will either lose a few friends or gain a few allies._


	2. 02

Sam was right about Sarah.

When he called her, Lennox opened the conversation with the ultimate bad-news-breaker phrase, "Honey, I've got bad news."

"_Will? What happened? Are you hurt?" _

"Well, uh, sort of but also not really? You remember that big battle in Mission City, with those can't be spoken of over an open phone line?"

"_Yes, of course I remember. You couldn't shut up about your squad taking one down on your own, without outside help."_

A grin flashed over his face at the memory, but was gone when he remembered the situation. "Yeah, okay those guys? They have these things called sparks. Basically like their souls except physical. And I have one. And I'm going to die in less than a year because of it. But the medic says he can save my spark and do something called flash-copying my memories, so I won't actually be dead."

After a long pause, Sarah asked, _"So you'll be okay in the end?"_

"Ratchet says so, yeah."

Sarah sighed in relief. _"I thought you were going to tell me someone was dead-dead. Don't scare me like that!"_

And that was it. She was perfectly fine with him eventually turning into a robot.

"What'd Mikayla say when you told her?" Lennox asked after he told his wife Ironhide was coming retrieve her and Annabelle and hung up.

Sam looked away. "She didn't say anything. She just hung up."

Lennox leaned forward, sympathetic. "Are you two fighting, then?"

Sam rolled one shoulder. "No, I don't think so. She just refuses to talk about it. If I bring it up, she changes the subject or hangs up."

"That sucks kiddo. I'm sure-"

Ratchet's cursing from the other side of the medbay startled them into silence.

"Hey, Ratchet? Are you okay over there?" Sam called warily.

Ratchet stood still for a moment, collecting himself, before he stomped over to Sam and Lennox's berth.

Angrily, he explained, "I'm fine, slag it, but you two aren't! You _both_ have seeker sparks! Not just flyer sparks, that I could have dealt with, but _seeker_ sparks! I don't have any seeker frame schematics and I'm not sure your sparks would be satisfied with mere flyer bodies! Fragging picky seekers…!"

Lennox waved Sam back behind him.

After letting the mech throw his minor tantrum, he asked Ratchet, "Couldn't you just take look through Starscream's memory files?"

Ratchet pinched the bridge of his nose and slowly calmed down. "Yes, I can look through Starscream's files, but I'd need his code from Skywarp. It could take vorns if I just tried to hack through it, but you two don't have the luxury of time. Memory codes are extremely sensitive, but I'm sure Starscream's not paranoid enough that he wouldn't tell his trine."

"Well, it couldn't hurt to ask, could it?"

"No, I suppose it couldn't. I'll give you a ride down to the brig."

-x-

Ironhide wasn't pleased that they were visiting Skywarp again, but he let them through pretty quickly when Ratchet threatened to bring him up to the medbay for a random checkup. Nobody liked Ratchet's random checkups.

Sam was the one who approached Skywarp's cell first, much to Lennox and Ratchet's dismay.

Nervously, he said, "Hey, Skywarp? We need Starscream's memory code."

The mech sat up abruptly and lunged towards the bars, snarling incoherently. Sam waited for a moment, seemingly patient, but both Lennox and Ratchet could clearly see his nervousness in the set of his shoulders and the sweat on the back of his neck.

Clearing his throat, Sam said, "Look, remember when you said you were getting weird readings from me and Lennox? Well, it turns out we have sparks. And our squishy human bodies aren't built to hold a big ball of energy in our hearts. We're going to die soon if Ratchet can't build us bodies, and he says he has to give us a certain type of body or we'll die anyway."

Skywarp quieted.

"You mean you have _seeker sparks_?" he asked reverently.

Ratchet answered for him. "Yes, they have seeker sparks. Look, I need to know if Starscream has any seeker frame schematics buried in his memory core, right now. Time is something that Sam and Major Lennox do not have. I need Starscream's code, and I need those schematics."

Skywarp paused for a moment, thinking. Then he said, "Yeah, I think 'Screamer has a few seeker schematics. I can transmit the code to you, if you want. 'Screamer was paranoid with his codes, and they're impossible to voice."

Ratchet shook his head. "Better copy it onto something. I can't clear you for transmission access at this time. It's against protocol, even for me."

Skywarp understood, and set a small metal object on the ground after a moment. Sam figured it was some sort of storage device, and reached through a gap in the energon wall big enough for his arm to fit through and picked it up.

Ratchet, after taking it from Sam and scanning it, sighed in relief. "Thank you, Skywarp."

The Decepticon nodded, and hesitantly added, "If… if Starscream doesn't make it, I'm willing to defect. And if he does make it, I'll do my best to convince him to defect. I promise. He might not even take much convincing."

Ironhide spluttered in shock.

-x-

As it turned out, Starscream had three different seeker frame schematics, and Ratchet let both Sam and Lennox choose which frame they liked best. Both turned down the triangle frame (the 'dorito' frame, as Sam had called it). That left the dart frame and the slim frame.

The dart frame, the same build Skywarp had, was shaped more human-like, with rounded digits and with normal feet instead of talon-like ones, but also fairly heavily armored. The wings stuck out from the back, where human shoulder blades would be, and Ratchet explained that it was the most common seeker frame before the War. Lennox opted for that frame.

The slim frame was similarly built, but half as wide in the waist and limbs and almost a head shorter than the dart build. The wings were split into four, and Ratchet found a note in the coding that explained that the four wings in bipedal mode were so that the mech could be more expressive. Sam decided upon this one when Ratchet mentioned that mechs with this model tended to be ridiculously fast.

Ratchet was hesitant to begin construction, however. "Are you two certain? Once I've started building, it will be difficult to re-requisition materials."

Sam groaned dramatically. "You guys don't like me fighting, so being able to run away will keep you all from badgering me! Or fly away, I guess. I'm okay with it. And if I don't like it eventually, I can always get mods, right?"

"Yes, but not an entirely new frame."

Sam shrugged. "I'm a teenager. We're used to hating our bodies."

"And you, Major Lennox?"

Grinning, Lennox said, "It's got decent armor, and plenty of room for guns. It's perfect."

Ratchet nodded. "I'll send the schematics to be built, and I'll assemble them when they arrive. Meanwhile, I want you two to go for a flight. I've managed to… convince… a pair of fighter pilots to allow you to accompany them on a routine patrol."

Both Sam and Lennox lit up.

-x-

It took a good half hour to gear up all the way. Coveralls, then G-suits, heavy boots, and a safety harness. Then, they had to sit through an hour of safety talks, and the pilots took another half hour to complain about how unsafe this was since they didn't have any training, and they should have at least a year's worth before they even got inside a fighter jet.

Sam was getting antsy by the time the two hours were up, but managed to calm down long enough to be strapped down and fitted into a helmet and oxygen mask. His pilot was a redheaded lady who was actually fairly chipper once she was finished complaining about breaking safety regs.

"Okay, Wikkity-"

"Witwicky."

"Witwicky, we're just going on a simple practice run. But after our maneuver practice is over, we're cleared to play around if you're up to it."

Lennox's pilot was much grumpier, but also admitted that he was definitely willing to play around after the standard practice maneuvers, since he didn't often have the chance to practice more drastic maneuvers.

The second the wheels of the planes lifted off of the ground, Sam cheered in excitement. He hadn't realized how much he wanted to be flying until he actually was in the air.

The redheaded lady said, _"Hold on gentlemen, and if you start to feel sick let me know so we can pull over."_

Lennox and Sam both knew they'd be perfectly fine, and let go and enjoyed the gentle flight. The pilots weren't cleared for anything other than simple maneuvers until Sam and Lennox both proved to have strong stomachs.

The second they were cleared, Sam's pilot twisted into a barrel roll, and Sam, once he recovered from the initial shock, screamed in delight for more. His pilot obliged, and corkscrewed up, evening out for just a moment before cutting the engines. The freefall was the best thing he'd ever felt. His stomach floated up to his throat during the climb, then sunk to his toes on the descent. Sam scream-laughed in pure joy.

Lennox was enjoying himself just as much, and ordered his pilot to keep corkscrewing. When his pilot started getting dizzy, he evened out for a moment, and then radioed his partner to bark out a command.

She flattened her trajectory, and came back to fly just behind and to the right of her partner.

"What's going on?" Sam asked.

Sam's pilot cackled and said, _"You'll see. We're the best goddamn flyers outside of the Blue Angels squadron, and we're about to show you why. Ever heard of a calypso pass?"_

When Lennox whooped, Sam knew that whatever the two pilots were planning, it was going to be awesome.

Lennox's pilot banked left and Sam panicked for a moment before realizing that he wasn't crashing, but flying upside down above Sam's jet. Lennox waved to him, and Sam could see his huge wide grin around the oxygen mask.

"_Ready for some more, gentlemen?"_

Two affirmative answers later, the redheaded lady and the grumpy man were off again.

-x-

"Man, I don't think I've heard the Major this excited except when it was his turn for a call home," Epps said over Sam and Lennox's voices from the speakers.

Bumblebee chirruped and pointed when Sam's voice drowned Lennox's.

Epps shrugged. "Yeah, the kid's pretty happy too, but he's always more excitable than Lennox. It's just weird to hear him all… normal I guess. I mean it ain't like the man's emotionless, but he's not usually this chatty, either."

Bee shrugged.

-x-

It was nightfall by the time the pilots finally landed. The jets were close to running on fumes, and the pilots were exhausted, but Sam was practically vibrating and Lennox had a little bit of a bounce to his gait.

Ratchet sent Bumblebee to keep track of Sam and keep him busy, and sent Ironhide to fetch Lennox so he could scan him. He knew what pace Sam's spark was growing at, but he didn't have enough data to say for sure how quickly Lennox's was growing. And since he had just gotten back from a flight, he was sure to be much more amiable to sit still long enough to be scanned, and with minimal complaining.

Lennox practically bounced into the room. "Ratchet! You rang?"

"Yes. Sit. It's long past time for your daily scan."

Lennox laughed loudly. "You're the one who set up the flight! Why didn't you call us down if I needed to be scanned so badly?"

With a withering glare, Ratchet replied, "Because as much as I dislike saying this, getting you in the air for a while was more important than these scans. And you'll be going on weekly flights until you have to be transferred. After that, you'll be going for daily flights until your spark stabilizes completely."

Lennox grinned, but sat still once Ratchet started the scans.

A thought occurred to him while he was waiting to be dismissed. "Hey, Ratchet. You said that adult mechs who touched the Allspark got glitched, right?"

"I did," Ratchet replied distractedly. "Why?"

"Well, I was wondering if Sam and I counted as adults, or if it went by spark age."

Ratchet's fingers froze on the data pad.

"Ratchet?"

"_Scrap me!" _Lennox wasn't actually surprised by the cursing, but the questioning that followed it,"Have you had any weird urges that you didn't have before? Obsessions? Irritability over anything?"

Lennox shook his head. "No, none of that. Jesus, there's no need to get worked up, it was just a simple question…"

"There _is_ a 'need to get worked up', as you put it. I'll have to get Bumblebee to get Sam in here as soon as he's come down from his flight-high to check for personality glitches in him too." Ratchet growled wordlessly while watching the data pad in his hands. "You very well _could_ develop a personality glitch. When you're in your frame I'll do periodic processor checks. Red Alert's glitch didn't manifest until a few orns after the battle at the Allspark's temple, and Prowl's even longer after that. Both manifested at the worst possible time, and I'll be damned if you two do the same thing."

Lennox snorted. "Yeah I suppose it would fit with my terrible luck if some weird glitch kicked in just as Decepticons were attacking."

Ratchet groaned. "_Don't_ borrow trouble, Major Lennox."

Lennox held his hands up in surrender. "Sorry, sorry. I'll let you know right away if I start acting weird. I'll even tell Ironhide and Sarah to tell you if I start acting weird."

"I've already ordered Ironhide to keep an eye on you and Bumblebee's been warned to keep an eye on Sam, as well," Ratchet replied, "And I'll also be sending out a memo to all humans who know about this to keep an eye on you two."

Lennox grumbled at the thought. Epps would be up his ass from now on, watching him for any sign of weirdness. Paranoid bastard.

-x-

The exact second Sam finally started winding down from the flight-high, Bumblebee herded him to the medbay and Ratchet scanned him and asked him all the same questions he had asked Lennox.

"No, Ratchet, I feel fine! Normal! No weird personality traits here, I promise!" Sam insisted.

Ratchet rumbled his engines and warned Bumblebee, again, to keep a close eye on him.

After he finally escaped from Ratchet, he wandered off aimlessly, chatting at Bumblebee. Bee wasn't paying attention where they were going, and the pair found themselves at the door to the brig.

Bumblebee stopped short when he realized it. _"Sam - danger ahead- do not engage!"_

Sam gave Bee a dirty look. "I wasn't going to. Why'd you come down here anyway, Bee?"

"_I didn't do it! – I was - following you—" _

Sam frowned. "Well I was following you!"

Before Bumblebee could argue back, there was a crash and a cry of pain from inside the brig. Both Sam and Bumblebee were surprised when Sam bolted for the door and rushed in.

"What in the pits did you do that for, Decepticon!?" Ironhide growled, checking him over for energon burns. "You're not supposed to touch the damn energon wall! That's why there's an electric fence in front of it!"

Sam skidded to a stop right by Ironhide's foot. "Is he okay!?"

Ironhide looked down. "What-? The hell are you doing down here, Sam?"

Sam ignored the question. "Is Skywarp okay?"

"Yeah, yeah. He's fine. He barely touched the energon wall. What do you care, anyway, kid? He's a 'con, for Primus' sake."

"I…" Sam hesitated. "I dunno. I heard him screaming, and I just took off. I thought he was hurt, I- I'm not sure why I was worried…"

Ironhide scowled. "I got a bad feeling about this. Bee, take him to Ratchet, tell him what happened. And don't let Sam come back down here, do you understand me?"

Bee saluted. _"Yessir!"_

"Good. Now get out of here before I put you both in the other cell."

Bumblebee scooped up Sam and practically bolted from the room.

Sam watched over Bee's shoulder the whole way out, eyes locked onto Skywarp's optics.

-x-

Ironhide connected to Lennox's phone.

"Will, Sam and Bumblebee were just down here. I'm sendin' him Ratchet's way."

"_What!? I'm going to kick that kid's ass, I swear…"_

Skywarp, meanwhile, was sitting much more loosely than before, and he hadn't reverted to his alt-mode like he usually did when someone wasn't talking to him.

"Also, the prisoner is actin' weird."

"'_Hide…"_

"He ain't bein' violent or nothin'. He's actually calmer than he usually is. Just warnin' you in case he does try somethin' stupid."

Lennox sighed. _"Thanks, Ironhide."_

"No problem, Will. We still on for a ride tonight?"

"_Unless Sideswipe manages to get into more trouble, then yeah. Later, 'Hide."_

Ironhide grunted and cut the connection.

-x-

Lennox had a few choice words for Sam when he came back to the medbay for the second time in a day.

"You idiot, what if he was loose!? He could have killed you, do you understand that?" Lennox shook Sam by his shirt. "Or worse yet, you could have accidentally initiated a trine bond with him!"

Sam's face went white as a sheet. "Shit."

"Yeah, kid. Next time, think about-!"

A clatter of tools, frantic beeping, and Ratchet's shouting cut them off "Slag! Damn it! Smelt me and toss me in a scrap heap! Bee, give me that tool next to the humans!"

Bumblebee obeyed the order immediately, and backed away.

Both Sam and Lennox were suddenly gripped with panic. Sam crumpled to the ground, and stared at Ratchet. Lennox, more used to the feeling, shook himself rushed over to the edge of the table.

He waved at the yellow and black mech wildly and said, "Bumblebee, pick me up and take me over to see what Ratchet's doing."

Crkzz. _"That's a negative, Ghost Rider."_

"Look, I don't want to interrupt, I just want to see. You can hold me out of the way, I just-!" Lennox raked his fingers through his hair and took a breath. "I need to see."

Crkzz._ "Why?"_

"I- I don't know! I just do, okay!?

Bee flicked his doorwings and looked over at Ratchet apprehensively.

"_Now!"_

Bumblebee's doorwings sagged, and he held his hand out reluctantly for Lennox to stop onto.

Lennox relaxed minutely. "Thanks."

Crkzz. _"If I die- I'm gonna be—haunting you."_

"Yeah, that's fine. A little higher, Bumblebee."

Finally, Lennox could see what was going on. Starscream's spark monitor was beeping erratically, and Ratchet was hovering over the seeker's chest, trying to find the anomaly that was causing his spark to do such a thing. The seeker's optics were blinking on and off, and his wrists were twitching against the restraints that Ironhide had insisted upon.

"Slag it! You shouldn't be waking up yet, you rusty scrapheap!" Ratchet muttered to the still-inactive mech, "Did you start waking up when I snatched the schematics? No, you couldn't have, that was hours ago…"

Realization dawned on Lennox.

Sam had been down in the brig with Skywarp.

Sam came back weirdly calm.

Ironhide reported that Skywarp was calmer than usual when Sam left.

Lennox ran his hand down his face. "I hate being right sometimes! Ratchet, I think Sam accidentally started a trinebond connection!"

Ratchet cursed, this time in Cybertronian. "If he did, then that's what woke Starscream up! Get him over here, maybe that'll calm this crazy fragger's spark enough that it won't bust out of its chamber! Quickly, Bumblebee!"

With his free hand, he scooped up Sam, who was still limp with terror, and deposited him on Starscream's belly. Instantly, cool relief washed over both Sam and Lennox, and Starscream's twitching came to a halt.

"I really hate being right, sometimes," Lennox murmured, "this is one of those times."

Ratchet pinched the bridge of his nose. "Alright, now that the crisis is averted, for now, how did you know that Sam started the trining process, Lennox?"

"I think…" Lennox sighed. "How'd you put it? I think he and I have that trine bond you were talking about."

"Slag it all."

Over the course of an hour, Lennox explained how he always seemed to have an uncanny ability to pinpoint where Sam was and what he was doing (preventing a prank war by just-so-happening to stumble across Sam and Bumblebee prepping a trap for Sideswipe and Epps, finding Sam and shoving him in a closet when one of Soundwave's symbiotes slipped into the base, rushing in and rescuing him from one of Wheeljack's experiments gone explosive).

Sam tentatively offering moments he remembered of somehow knowing just what to say or do to cheer him up/calm him down instead of his usual foot-in-mouth-ness (telling Lennox that none of his men got hurt this time, telling him that Sarah was with Ironhide, knowing when to pat him on the back after a mission-gone wrong, asking him to teach him how to shoot when he got back from a mission that ended before his adrenaline high had).

While listening, Ratchet scanned their sparks and compared frequencies, and came to the conclusion that they really _were_ in the beginning of a trine bond.

With Starscream's spark monitor at a steady pace, Ratchet finally admitted, "I don't know how to handle this. The Autobots only ever had one seeker trine, and they were wiped out all at once in one of the earlier battles of the war."

Lennox nodded tiredly. "What's this mean for us, doc?"

Sam stared at the floor. "I think it means we're stuck with each other. And probably Skywarp and Starscream, too. Which is all my fault- I shouldn't have been down in the brig, I don't know what brought me there-"

Lennox reached over and smacked Sam upside his head. "Shut up and let the medic speak, Witwicky."

Ratchet cleared his throat. "Sam is right that you're probably stuck with Skywarp and Starscream, but it isn't his fault that the bond started. It's likely that one or both of you would have made your way down to the brig at some point anyway. Both of your sparks are on similar frequencies to both Skywarp and Starscream's. You would have gravitated to them, and you would not have been able to prevent it."

Lennox could feel a headache creeping on. "Starscream's stuck in stasis for now, though, right?"

"Yes. Although if you move too far away from his body you _might_ wake him up by straining the bond," Ratchet warned, "and I'll probably have to move Skywarp up here as well because of it."

Sam stood up. "Wait a minute. How is the leader decided in a trine? Is it possible to convince Skywarp that Lennox is the leader instead of Starscream, and then deal with him later when he wakes up?"

Slowly, Ratchet nodded. "I've heard of trine leaderships changing when one mech was in stasis, so it could work, but you must remember that Starscream is a tenacious glitch-head. By all records we have, when he wants something, he stops at nothing to get it. If he wants leadership of the trine, you, Lennox, will have to hold your ground. It won't be easy."

Lennox waved at Starscream, "why can't we just offline him now? Or is that too dangerous for Sam and I?"

Ratchet scoffed. "Not only you two, but Skywarp, as well. Not that you could order Starscream's execution in the first place. You can try, but the second a finger's on the trigger, you'll call it. You won't be able to stop yourself from calling it, not even in the beginnings of a trine bond."

Sam slid into his chair as Lennox stood up defiantly.

"Go on," Ratchet said as a cannon formed out of his arm, "order me to kill Starscream."

"Do it."

Sam and Lennox both watched as Ratchet's cannon slowly powered up and hummed higher and higher-

Lennox's fist clenched.

-until it was at the peak of its power and would go off any second-

"…Stand down! Fuck. _Fuck._" Lennox kicked his chair.

Ratchet powered down his cannon slowly. "I warned you, Lennox. Not even in the beginning, when it can still be rejected. You can try initiating a trine bond with one of us grounders, but I highly doubt it will work."

"Why?" Sam asked, letting Lennox pitch his fit, "why won't we be able to? Wouldn't, I dunno, actually knowing the bot we're supposed to bond with be easier for our sparks?"

"Seeker sparks trump grounder sparks when it comes to trine bonds." Ratchet shrugged helplessly. "I'm sorry, but the best you can hope for, really, is that Starscream dies peacefully."

Lennox took a calming breath and righted his chair. "How likely is that?"

"Actually? Very likely. Just because he's stable right now doesn't mean he'll stay that way. I don't have the capabilities to keep his spark one hundred percent steady after a first trine-break. If we were on Cybertron, before the war? He'd have lived with no problem. As is? He's got less than an eleven percent chance to live."

"…get Skywarp up here. He should be with his trinemate while he's dying."

-x-

Ratchet comm'd Optimus to relay the request.

_Can I get the prisoner up in the medbay? His trinemate's on the edge of death._

**Can you prevent Starscream's death, Ratchet?**

_If I had certain supplies, I could increase his chances, but I can't prevent it, no. Even if I could, would his life really be worth that of William Lennox and Samuel Witwicky's lives?_

…**I see your point, old friend. Do you believe Skywarp's promise?**

_What, that he'll defect is Starscream doesn't make it? Yes. I believe it. As do Sam and Lennox._

**Then I will grant this request. He will, however, still be in an energon containment field until he proves that he isn't lying to us or tricking us. Make sure he knows this.**

_I will, Prime. Sam and Lennox will be grateful._


	3. 03

Weeks passed.

Ratchet kept Sam and Lennox confined to the medbay most of the time, with exceptions for their daily flights.

Sometimes Bumblebee managed to slip Sam out for a ride, and sometimes Ratchet let him.

Lennox as kept busy with preparing a story to cover their transformations, and Ratchet occasionally asked Ironhide to kidnap him for a distraction.

Skywarp was devastated when he realized that while Starscream's spark still pulsed, his processers were fried far beyond Ratchet's ability to repair. He pitched a fit, gave himself energon burns from his cell, and eventually melted into a keening mess. Lennox and Sam talked to him through the wall until he cheered up, and soon got him talking normally.

All the while, Ratchet was building their bodies. Sam's was closer to completion, as it should be- Sam was much closer to needing the transfer than Lennox was. He was slower, exhausted faster, his breathing got worse, and he slept more than even the laziest teenager should.

Lennox was beginning to show the same symptoms, but his were nowhere near as bad as Sam's were. He insisted that Ratchet complete Sam's before he even began on his. Ratchet scoffed and told him "when you're the medic, you can tell me what to do. Until then? Shut your trap and let me work." Although, he did all but stop working on Lennox's body after that.

But Sam and Bumblebee still started a small-scale prank war with Epps and Sideswipe, Lennox still shouted at the new liaison until he got what he wanted, and Ratchet still threw wrenches at bots when they interrupted his work.

Life went on.

-x-

"Ratchet, Prowl's team is incoming."

Lennox flinched when Ratchet slammed his wrench on the berth his Sam's mech body was lying on.

"What's their ETA?"

"A little more than an earth week from now."

Ratchet gave Optimus an icy glare. "Sam's due to transfer in less than a week. Who all is with him?"

"Bluestreak, Red Alert, Mirage, and… Sunstreaker."

"Tell Sideswipe to keep his psychotic twin under control," Ratchet ordered, "I will not allow Sam to be hurt because Sunstreaker decided to jet judo him. Send a message to Prowl as soon as you can."

Prime shook his head. "Prowl's last communication was over an orn ago, and neither he nor his team has responded to any messages since. I believe all of their comms are out."

Lennox stuck his fingers in his mouth and let out an ear-shattering whistle.

Both mechs looked down at him, surprised.

"Either of you care to tell me what's going on?" Lennox asked and waved at Sam, "and can you two keep it down? The kid's still exhausted from yesterday's flight."

Prime sighed. "I apologize, Captain. My second in command is approaching earth, and his team has several… troublesome bots on it."

"This Sunstreaker guy?"

"Among others, yes. He and Sideswipe are known for a practice that, translated into your language, essentially means 'jet judo'. It involved jumping on seekers mid-flight. The two of them are invaluable against the Decepticons, but I'm afraid that the Autobots have not had a seeker since the beginning of the war, and it's very likely that Sunstreaker will attempt to attack Sam on sight."

Lennox groaned. "Along with our- the human military's jets, right?"

"It is possible."

"I can already taste the paperwork…" he groaned, and then perked up. "Doesn't Sideswipe have a special communication line with him?"

Ratchet shook his head. "Unfortunately in this case, no. It's been rumored that spark-twins have a bond that allows this, but it's completely false. They might be able to send fleeting images and feelings, but nothing more."

"Is it possible to keep Sam under until they've arrived?" Lennox asked hopefully.

"Unfortunately, no." Ratchet's fans whirred. "He'll need to go for a flight immediately or there's a risk of him developing a glitch, or whatever glitch he may or may not have picked up from the cube may manifest."

Lennox closed his eyes tiredly. "How soon can you determine what kind of glitch Sam might have?"

Ratchet glared at him suspiciously. "I can scan his processers for signs of a glitch, but there's no guarantee I'll find one, whether it's there or not. Why do you ask?"

"Because if he's going to have one, he'd going to have one either way, right? Wouldn't keeping him from getting injured or killed in his first moments as a Cybertronian be worth a glitch or two?"

Prime rumbled. "I do not think you understand the severity of glitches, Captain Lennox. They can make a mech see things that aren't there, make them paranoid beyond belief, even give them compulsions that are impossible fight. These things can be very dangerous even in peace time, Captain."

Lennox blinked. "Hey, Boss Bot? Why don't you look up the DSM?"

After a long pause, Optimus asked, "The Diagnostic and Statistic Manual of Mental Disorders?"

"That's the one. Take a look through that and tell me if any of those sound familiar."

Another long pause, and Optimus said, "Yes, many of these disorders sound like glitches I have heard or witnessed. I have also found lists of potential treatments to alleviate the symptoms of these disorders on the internet."

"That's because crazy people are pretty common on Earth, Prime. Even if Sam or I gained a glitch or two, there's a reason there's a shrink permanently stationed on the NEST side of the base. We're a special tactics group, we're full of crazies."

That got a laugh out of Ratchet. "You've certainly embraced your seeker arrogance. If Sam agrees to be put under, with full knowledge of what could happen, I'll allow it."

Lennox nodded and started formulating what he would tell Sam.

-x-

"Hey, Lennox, I appreciate that you're trying to keep me from getting hurt by this Sunstreaker dude," Sam paused to cough, "okay? But my family, on both sides, has a huge history of mental disorders. Out of all my-" cough "-cousins, I'm the only one who doesn't have depression or bipolar disorder, and I'm going to keep it like that as long as I can."

Lennox scowled.

"Look, when they say they're coming down, I'll make sure I'm-" cough "I'll make sure I'm inside, okay?"

"Sam, it might only be for a day," Lennox said, trying a different tactic, "You're due for transfer either tomorrow or the day after, and Prowl's team is due to land four days from now-"

Sam yelped, "wait, what!? I'm due to transfer tomorrow!?"

"Yes?"

"I haven't-!" he started choking on a cough, and Lennox thumped his back gently. "I haven't even told my parents anything yet!"

Lennox groaned. "Are you serious, kid? Were you even planning on telling them that you're not dead or were you just going to make me tell them that the cons snatched you and killed you?"

"… I was hoping you'd tell them the cons killed me."

"Mm-mm." Lennox shook his head sharply. "No way, kiddo. You can try telling that story but it won't be me telling them that. I've send enough condolence letters home, and I'm not sending any more than I have to. Get Optimus to do it if you've got to, but leave me the hell out of it."

"I just- I don't want them hurt, and I know it'll kill them to think I'm dead, but it's better that then the 'cons kidnap them again because they might know where I am, you know?"

This time, when Sam coughed, his lungs rattled and he struggled for breath. Wide-eyed, he grabbed at Lennox's arm in a panic.

"Shit!" Lennox roared, "Ratchet, Sam needs that transfer, now!"

Ratchet flew into the medbay and started barking orders at him, "keep him calm while I prepare the spark chamber! If he can't breathe, it's not a big deal, just keep him calm. It won't take me but a few seconds to get everything ready. Did he flash-copy this morning?"

Lennox froze, but sagged in relief. "Yeah, he was bitching about it earlier."

Sam insisted that the wire-frame headpiece that allowed someone named Blaster (who was apparently manning one of the satellites gifted to the Autobots) into their minds itched like crazy. Lennox didn't feel it, but if Sam was complaining, he was okay.

Skywarp keened in distress, reminding them of his presence.

"No, Skywarp, he's not in danger," Ratchet snapped, "Your trinemate will be perfectly fine in a few minutes."

"But his frame-!"

"Merely accessories and aesthetics missing, I assure you." Ratchet said with finality, "Alright, word of warning- Sam probably won't remember anything that happened after he flash-copied his memories, and there's no time to flash-copy right now so he'll have to deal with it."

Sam nodded and thumbs-up'd, though he was still struggling for breath.

Lennox said, "Sam says he's okay with that. I'll fill him in later if it's necessary."

Ratchet nodded. "Alright, give him to me."

Lennox lifted Sam into Ratchet's hand.

Gently, Ratchet set Sam into the spark chamber. "Have I told you how this is going to work?"

"Not completely, no," Lennox admitted.

"Well I'll talk my way through this then. First, your body is going into the spark chamber. I've already done this with Sam. Next, I'm going to sedate him," a finger unfolded to reveal a small needle filled with a clear liquid. "He will go unconscious in just a moment."

Lennox couldn't see Sam, but after a second or two, Ratchet continued, "Now is when it gets tricky. I have to cut his spark free from his heart and remove the body without letting the spark escape from its chamber. I've done this a few times, so you won't have to worry about him as long as you- both of you," Ratchet glared at Skywarp and Lennox, "let me concentrate."

Skywarp's whines quieted almost to silence, and Lennox kept his mouth shut, no matter how much he wanted to ask if Sam was okay.

He decided to text Bumblebee and Mikayla and Sarah that Sam's transfer had started, and set his phone to vibrate before the flood of worried responses came in.

"_Is he in distress?"_ Bumblebee asked. Lennox could almost hear the low, worried tune the yellow bot would surely have played.

Lennox replied with, _"he was for a minute, but once ratchet told him to calm down, he did. everything looks ok so far"_

Sarah just sent him half a text of exclamation points.

"_dont worry honey hes ok. ratchets got this"_

Mikayla was he last to respond. _"he said hed be ok is he goin g to be ok?"_

"_thats what hatchet says. don't worry about your boyfriend kiddo, hell be fine"_

She didn't reply after that and Lennox told himself that since she was a civilian he wasn't allowed to shoot her for idiocy. That, and Sam would be devastated if he knew he even considered it.

So, deliberately not thinking about Sam's girlfriend, Lennox made his way down the ladder attached to the berth, over, and back up another ladder onto the table next to where Skywarp was contained. If Ratchet was right about their sparks forming a trine bond, then who better to commiserate with while their third is having surgery done?

If not for the thin energon barrier, Lennox would have climbed up onto Skywarp's shoulder.

-x-

_Booting main operating system…_

_Main operating system booted._

_System check:_

_Spark chamber: secure_

_Energon pump: online_

_Hydraulics: online_

_Flight systems: functional, disabled_

_Energon level: 23.8%_

_Databanks: operational_

_Weapons: dysfunctional, disabled_

_Trine bond detected, ping y/n?_

_**Y**_

_Pinging…_

_Response from left wing, no response from rear wing, no response from trine leader. Ping again, y/n?_

_**Y**_

_Pinging..._

_Response from left wing, no response from rear wing, no response from trine leader. Ping again, y/n?_

_**Y**_

_Pinging…_

-x-

Ratchet was started from his fitful rest when Skywarp started shouting his name.

"Medic! Medic, wake up! Ratchet, wake up! Sam's going into a feedback loop!" Skywarp slammed against the energon wall, burning his shoulder, "let me out, I can get him out of the loop! He'll glitch himself up if I don't-!"

Ratchet hauled himself up with a groan. "I'll stop the feedback loop, calm down, Skywarp."

Skywarp keened. "You can't stop it! He's trying to ping Star and Lennox!"

If it wouldn't slow him down, Ratchet would have slammed his head against a wall for forgetting that bonds were one of first things a mech would check on upon reboot.

"Slag it, why didn't you remind me!?" he snarled at Skywarp while he released him from the energon cell, "hurry up and get him online, before he glitches his systems!"

Lennox, who woke up from a flare of pain from his spark, shouted incoherently when he saw Skywarp free from his cell.

"Don't worry, Lennox," Ratchet said, putting a hand out to block him from his walkie-talkie, "I've confirmed that Skywarp has a bond with both you and Sam. You _know_ he can't hurt him."

Slowly nodding, Lennox stepped back and sat down again on his bed. "What happened to Sam? My heart felt like it was being squeezed…"

Ratchet moved his hand back to his side. "Sam was trying to ping you, but since you don't have a system capable of pinging, he got stuck in a feedback loop, and started panicking. Skywarp will calm him down a little, and get him in the air. Call an escort squad while I rig you up a temporary ping system so this doesn't happen every time he tries to recharge."

Lennox did as asked, warily watching them both.

"_Understood, Major. We'll fly over right away. ETA ten minutes, tops. See you soon."_

With one worry off his shoulders, Lennox focused on Sam, who seemed to be calming down more and more the longer Skywarp was touching him and chattering at him. After a minute, Skywarp looked over at him, and reached his hand out, his fingers brushing the edge of Lennox's perch.

"He'll calm down faster if you tell him it's alright," Skywarp explained softly, "You're the trine leader and one of the trine he can't ping."

Reluctantly, forcing himself to remember what Ratchet said about trinemates being unable to harm each other, he stepped onto Skywarp's hand. He curled one arm around Skywarp's finger to keep steady as Skywarp drew his hand back and over Sam's chest.

"Sam, wake up, I'm right here," Lennox said, sitting down and patting Sam's armor. "You don't have to keep pinging me, I'm here."

-x-

_Response from left wing, no response from rear wing, no response from trine leader. Ping again, y/n?_

_**Y**_

_Pinging…_

_Ping interrupted. Auditory data available. _

_Access auditory data, y/n?_

_**Y **_

"_Sam, wake up, I'm right here, you don't have to keep pinging me, I'm here."_

_Identifying voice…_

_Voice identified: Trine Leader_

_Order received: stop pinging_

_Cease pinging, y/n?_

_**Y **_

_Pinging ceased. _

_Access databank for most recent memory, y/n?_

_**Y **_

_Most recent memory:_

_I put the flash-printing wire frame on my head._

_Irritably: "god, this thing itches, Lennox."_

_Lennox rolls his eyes. "Sam, it doesn't itch. You're imagining things."_

_Sincerely: "no, I'm serious! It itches! God I almost can't wait to be transferred!"_

"_You'll be fine, Sam. Now shut up and let the thing flash-copy your memories._

_There's a 'ding' noise. I'm preparing to take the wire frame off. "Thank god it's done. Let's get back to Ratchet before he has-"_

_End most recent memory._

_Access chronology meter, y/n?_

_**N**_

_Access visual and auditory feeds y/n?_

_**Y **_

_Accessing visual and auditory feeds…_

_-x-_

Lennox scrambled back to Skywarp's hand when Sam's optics flared to life.

"Ratchet, he's up!" Lennox shouted over his shoulder. "Sam, how do you feel?"

Sam's optics sluggishly focused on him. Lennox waited patiently for Sam. After a long moment, he opened his mouth to speak, but nothing but static came out, to both of their confusions.

"He says he's tired and really confused," Skywarp translated. "He's speaking standard Iaconian. If Ratchet says I can, I'll send him the files I have on the English language-"

Sam grumbled, "I know how to speak English, damn it. I have to concentrate now, but I know my own birth language."

Lennox was immensely relieved. "So you _are_ okay?"

Sam nodded. "Pretty restless, though. Can I go fly now?"

"Ah, ah-ah!" Ratchet interrupted, "You can go flying as soon as I've cleared you and you've gotten an alternate mode. Hold still, squirming makes these scans difficult to read…"

Skywarp chattered wordlessly at Ratchet when he was done scanning.

Ratchet stopped and slowly turned to stare at him. "I will comm Optimus, and if he clears you for flight, you may fly with your wing mate."

"Whoa…" Sam said, his optics wide in awe, "I understood that!"

Lennox groaned. "If you two start planning pranks already, I'll sic Sideswipe on you both, understand? Don't test me."

Both of them chirped the same tone at him.

"What-?" Sam stared at Skywarp. "What the hell was that?"

"Standard 'yes, trine leader' response," Ratchet explained, then added, "Skywarp, you're cleared for flight, but you will be shot down if you disobey any orders given to you by Lennox or Optimus. Sam, you look like you're good to go, but try to stay cool. I don't like the way your heat-dispersers look. There's two jets incoming, so you'll have to scan one of them before you actually fly."

Ratchet ignored Sam's excited static-y noises and continued. "So far, your choice is either an F-22 or a Harrier jump jet, and you're a little small for the F-22. Go on, get outside."

Sam didn't need any encouraging, and bolted from the medbay.

"Skywarp, Lennox will be flying in your cockpit. Be careful, because humans can't handle much more than four or five g's," Ratchet warned. "You'll hurt more than just Lennox if you're not, remember."

"Yeah, yeah," Skywarp waved him off, "I already looked up what humans can handle, since I have one as a trinemate. I'll treat him like glass, I promise, not that I have to."

"No, I suppose you don't. Still, be careful."

"I will be."

-x-

Sam barely paused long enough to scan one of the jets incoming before twisting and turning and blasting off in his new alt mode.

A program in the back of his processor wondered how he already knew how to transform, but it was largely ignored by the sheer elation and excitement that poured over him as he was flying. He hardly even needed to think about what he was trying to do- he just did it.

Corkscrew? No problem. Barrel roll? Easy. Diving? Psh.

A black jet with a faint purple tinge appeared with a whoosh of displaced air, and Sam focused his scanners on him just long enough to spot Lennox in the cockpit.

Sam pinged out a query-invitation, and received an overjoyed acceptance ping in return.

_Chase me._ Sam thought at Skywarp.

**My pleasure.** Skywarp's voice said, as though he were right in his ear- audial.

_You can hear me?_ Sam asked, diverting his focus from flying for just long enough to get an answer.

**Trine bond. Of course I can hear you. **_**Fly**_**, righty.**

Sam flew.

-x-

Hours passed with the two mechs flying around the base's airspace. The two escort jets had to return after the first hour for a refuel, but Ratchet grudgingly admitted that Sam would probably be fine until sunset without a refuel, And that Skyward was safe to allow free as long as Lennox was with him.

And so, as the sun began to set, Ratchet comm'd Skywarp and Sam.

"Get your pedes on the ground or so help me primus I'll reformat you both into symbiotes for Blaster."

Skywarp was quick to land, and Ratchet was pleased that someone, at last, acknowledged his threats. Sam wasn't so easy to coax to the ground, but somehow, someone (and Ratchet was putting his money on Lennox ordering him to) convinced him to land for refuel at the least.

Sam paused just long enough to scarf down a cube off energon before taking off again.

"Goddamn it, kid…" Lennox grumbled from Skywarp's shoulder, wolfing down an MRE that Epps had given him. "I guess we're flying after him again…"

But, as he was clambering back into Skywarp's cockpit, a wave of panic flooded him, and Skywarp snapped his canopy shut and bolted after Sam.

Lennox watched in horror as Sam's thrusters guttered and failed. Slowly, with an almost cartoonish pause, he began to fall from the skies.

The world vanished around him for a fraction of a second, and when it reappeared, he could practically reach out and touch Sam's wing. The world vanished again, but this time in a mess of swirling metal instead of just a void.

Skywarp reached a hand out and latched his claws onto Sam's wings and carefully, miraculously, guided him down.

Ratchet was pushing him out of the way the second they were all on the ground properly, though Skywarp didn't go very far from Sam.

"He overheated, but he shouldn't have. There's nothing physically wrong with him," Ratchet announced grimly, "it has to be something wrong with his programming."

Skywarp's wings twitched down. "You mean he has a glitch?"

"Yes, I'm afraid so."

-x-

**Ratchet, report.**

_Sam has a similar glitch to Prowl's. His endurance is much higher than I thought it would be. Originally, I attributed that to the fact that my data on seekers is limited, but I realize now that he has a glitch that debilitates his limiter programs and allows him to fly much longer than he should be capable of, but the downside is that he can overheat his system much too easily._

**Is there anything you can do for him?**

_I'll speak to Wheeljack. He might have an idea._

**I am sure he will come up with something, my friend.**

_I hope you're right, Optimus. I hope you're right._


End file.
